The events of the case relate to the extrajudicial execution, on December 18, 1992, of Pedro Huilca Tecse, a Peruvian trade union leader. The execution was perpetrated by members of the “Colina” group, a death squad linked to the Intelligence Services of the Peruvian military.

The Court developed standards on the right to free association with others persons, without the intervention of public authorities to limit or obstruct the exercise of this right. Furthermore, the Court interpreted the execution of a trade union leader to represent not only a restriction on the freedom of association of the individual, but also an affectation on the rights and liberty of a certain group to associate freely and without fear. The Court concluded that the facts of the case had an intimidating effect on workers in the Peruvian trade union movement, limiting the ability of this group to exercise said right.